Nigeria legend Sunday Oliseh has suggested that Victor Osimhen’s heated exchange with Ademola Lookman played a significant role in the Super Eagles’ failure to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The incident occurred during Nigeria’s 4-0 victory over Mozambique in the Round of 16, when Osimhen and Lookman were involved in a serious verbal altercation on the field.
Nigeria later fell to Morocco in the semifinals after a penalty shootout, and eventually finished third after defeating Egypt on penalties.
Oliseh believes the outburst undermined the team’s cohesion and affected Nigeria’s performance in the tournament’s decisive stages.
“We are confusing talent with license. Victor Osimhen is world-class, but talent is not a license to destroy team chemistry. Since that public outburst against Ademola Lookman, Lookman became a shadow of himself, and we lost the bite,” he said.
“When you publicly diminish your teammates, you break their spirit. You destroy the very confidence a team needs to survive a semifinal. Against a team as tactically sharp as Morocco, we needed our best players at 100%.”
Oliseh added that Lookman was among the tournament’s most threatening players before the incident.
“Statistically, Ademola Lookman was the most dangerous player in the tournament until that public verbal abuse broke his focus. You cannot expect a playmaker to perform miracles on the pitch when he has been demoralized by his own teammate. The conflict did its damage,” Oliseh said.
